Labour has quietly drawn up spending plans that would allow it to borrow £25 billion more than the Tories after the next election, despite promising to match George Osborne’s pledge of clearing the deficit.
A “sleight of hand” by Ed Balls means he would be able to slow the pace of public cuts proposed by the Tories, opening up a further ideological divide between the two parties.
The Shadow Chancellor claims his new spending plans show that Labour “cannot and will not duck the hard choices ahead”.
However, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), the country’s most respected economic think-tank, has confirmed that by committing to clear the “current deficit” rather than the overall deficit, Labour will be able to borrow and spend more.
Mark